title: Effects of health insurance on non-working married women's medical care use and bed days at home.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  This study examines whether bed days are alternative methods to medical care use for treating a particular illness. If bed days at home are considered as an alternative to medical treatment, then medical care use and bed days at home should be influenced by an individual's health insurance status.
  
  
  METHODS
  This study uses data from the 2003 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) on medical care use and bed days at home for each contracted illness of non-working married women.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results suggest that the health insurance status of non-working married women has considerable influence on their choice between medical care use and bed days at home. In addition, those with health insurance are more likely to use medical care and less likely to use bed days at home, but they tend to avoid the simultaneous use of medical care and bed days at home.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In contrast to previous studies' findings indicating that absences from work and medical care use among working males may be complements, this study's results for non-working married women without health insurance suggest that they use rest and medical treatment as substitutes, not complements.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preventive Medicine, College of Medicine, Catholic University of Korea, Seoul 137-701, Korea. eshin@catholic.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Changwoo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Euichul
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001510:Bed Rest / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D019458:Insurance Coverage / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D017533:Marital Status; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D014478:Unemployment / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology